The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Technological progress in IC manufacture has produced several generations of ICs, and each generation fabricates smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. ICs are made up of a number of active devices and passive devices. These devices are further interconnected together to form a functional circuit. Typical interconnect structures include lateral interconnections such as metal lines, and vertical interconnections such as via contacts. The density of active and passive devices in modern integrated circuits is significantly increased, and therefore the distance between a via contact and another device is considerably decreased. Various issues arise when the distance between a via contact and an active device decreases to a certain value.